Tobacco-stringing machine.



F. 1. SALZER.

-TOBACCO STRINGING MACHINE. APPLICATION r-mzu AUGJT, 19:4.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

8 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. l. SALZER.

TOBACCO smmemc MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJL l9l4.

L%&3@& mm Dec.12,1916.

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F. SALZER. v TOBACCO STRINGING MACHINE- Patentebl Dec. 12, 1916.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 11, I914. lflflfifififiw 8 SHEETS-SHEET 3- F 1.SALZER.

TOBACCO STRINGIRG MACHINE.

. APPLICATION nuzn AUGJI. 19m.

, v Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

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J. SAL'ZER.

TOBACCO STKINGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FlLED AUG.II, IBM.

mmww Patented Dec.12,1916.

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F. J. SALZER.

TOBACCO STRINGING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 11. ISM. I I

Patented Dec.12,1916.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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FRIEDRICH J. SALZER, 0F ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR GE ONE-FG'URTH TOFRANK SALZEB, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

TOBACCO-STBINGING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1918.

Application filed August 17, 1914. Serial No. 857,254.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRIEDRICH .I. SALZER, asubject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at Erie, in thecounty of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in 'Iobacco-Stringing Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

An object of my invention is to provide a machine for stringing tobaccowhich is so arranged that the separate leaves or stalks of the tobaccoplant may be threaded onto a cord to be spaced at a predetermineddistance apart so that the cord or strlng may be stretched in the dryingshed or room and the plants or leaves will be suspended to permit a freecirculation of air on all sides to accomplish a uniform curing and toprevent tobacco mold or stem rot.

A further object is to so construct the machine that the power drivingmeans thereof maybe kept constant and the operation of the working partsis substantially continuous.

Yet another object is to provide means by which the leaves or stalks arethreaded onto the needle and to so form said parts that each leaf orplant is impaled through the fibrous stock and is made secure againstdisplacement.

A still further object is to provide means arranged to maintain theneedle at a fixed point while the means by which the stalks are threadedonto the needle are permitted to have movement with respect thereto.

With other objects in view, which will be referred to, my inventionconsists in the peculiar combination and novel arrangement of parts,such as will be hereinafter more fully described in connection with theaccompanying drawings and morepartlcularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a view in side elevation with parts of theoperating mechanismthereof broken away to more clearly illustrate therelative positioning of the several cooperating mechanisms. Fig. 2 is aview in front elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailview with parts thereof shown in section to illustrate the mainoperating parts of the machine. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken on the line 14l of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar sectional viewtaken on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of the means by which the needle ismaintained in its stationary posltion and with the operatingmechanism'thereof also shown. F ig. 7 is a transverse sectional viewtaken on the line '77 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 discloses a similar sectionalview on the line 88 of Fig. 6. Fig. 9 is a fragmentary View in top planof a portion of the notched operating wheel. 10 is a view in edgeelevation of the structure disclosed in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a view intransverse section on the line 1111 of Fig. 9 with a leaf illustrated inthe relation in which it will be placed with respect to the leaf-holdingfinger. Fig. 12 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on theline 1212 of Fig. 9 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.Fig. 13 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the mechanismillustrated in Fig. 5. Fig. 14 is a detail view to better illustrate thestructure of the stringing needle.

The base 1 of the machine has the standard 2, 2 mounted thereon near oneend and adj aeent the center, and the cross members 8 and 4: securedtransversely across the base members between the standard 2 forms asupporting structure upon which the table top 5 is mounted. A carryingarm 6 is rigidly mounted on the table top 5 and is shaped to overhangthe projecting portion of the base member 1.

A power shaft 7 is revolubly mounted in bearings carried by the crossmembers 3 of the supporting structure and as a means of transmittingpower to this shaft, a fly wheel 8 is secured to the inner end thereofand has tlie eceentrically mounted knuckle pin 9 carried thereon to beconnected by a pitman 10 with the treadle 11 hinged at 12 to one of thebase members 1 to have swinging movement transmitted thereto by the footof the operator and in consequence to cause a rotation of the shaft 7which-rotation is maintained constant'by'the'ily or 'balance wheel 8. Apulley wheel 13 is secured on the power shaft 7 and a belt ii is passedover this pulley wheel and over the main pulley 15 which is looselymounted on the shaft 16 j'ournaled in the carrying arm 6 to lie in thesame general plane as the power shaft 7. At the end of the carrying arm6, stud shaft 17 is secured to depend in a downward direction. A bevelgear wheel 18 which is preferably made of a large diameter, although thesize of the wheel may be varied to suit varying operating conditions, isrevolubly mounted on this stud shaft 17 and a bevel gear 19 secured onthe inner end of the shaft 16 meshes with the teeth of the carrying gear18, a clutch 20 being provided to be shifted by the clutch lever 21 to aposition to secure the pulley wheel 15 to transmit a driving motion tothis shaft 16 upon the rotation of the power shaft 7 By reason of thefact that the belt pulley 15 is loosely mounted on the shaft and theclutch operating levers 21 is positioned at a point to be readilygrasped by the operator, the power shaft or drive shaft 7 may beconstantly rotated during the normal operation of the machine either bythe treadle mechanism as hereinbefore described or by a connection withan independent source of motive power and the rotation of the bevelgearing wheel 18 can be controlled at the will of the operator.

The spacing blocks 22 are positioned at equi-distant points to projectfrom the lower side of the carrying wheel 18 and a notched cam wheel 23is secured to these spacing blocks to be in concentric arrangement withrespect to the rim of the carrying wheel.

The cam or operating wheel 23 has the notches 2 1 provided around theouter peripheries thereof and similar notches 25 are spaced to beradially opposite around the inner circumference of the operating wheel23. As better illustrated in Fig. 9, the notches 2 1 and 25 of theoperating wheel 23 are made sharp on their forward edge and the rearedge of each notch is made on an incline to provide a not-too-sharpascent to the inner and outer circumferential edges of the operatingwheel. Adjacent each pair of the radially alined notches 24: and 25, aleaf-holding finger. 26 is mounted on the lower side of the operatingwheel, and each of these leaf-holding fingers 26 is grooved verticallyalong its forward side as at 27 so that the stem of the leaves or thestock of the plant will be received therein in the relation illustratedin Fig. 11. Each of the leaf-holding fingers 26 has a notch 28 formedadjacent the lower end thereof and these notches are so positioned thata continuous notch is presented around the entire outer circumference ofthe spaced leaf-holding fingers and the notches, again referring to Fig.511 are extended past the center of the vertical groove 27 Theskeleton-supporting bracket 29 is secured to the carrying arm 6 toextend toward the stud shaft 17 and a skeleton bracket 30 is mounted onthe lower end of the stud shaft 17 and is held at a point adjacent thedisposition of the bracket 29 by the tightening of the clamp bolt 31 todraw the clamp member 32 of the bracket tight r around the stud shaft.

In the operation of my improved machine, it is the intention that acurved piercing needle 33, the structure of which is better disclosed inFig. 1 1 be held adjacent the brackets 29 and 30 to move through thenotches 28 of the holding fingers 26 at the approximate center of thelongitudinal groove 27 and to thus pierce the stems or stock of theleaves or plants to be threaded thereon, the relative disposition of theneedle with respect to the holding fingers being illustrated in Figs. 5and 13. While it is desired to maintain the needle in a stationaryposition, it will be understood that the movement of the carrying wheel18 causes a rotary motion to be transmitted to the operating wheel 23and by reason of the fact that the holding fingers 26 depend from thisoperating wheel and that the plate in which the needle is held is abovethe lowest point of projection of these fingers 26, some means must beprovided which will hold the needle and which will at the same time stepover the holding fingers to permit their passage. To accomplish thisholding of the piercing needle and to permit the overstepping movementto allow the passage of the leaf-holding fingers, the bearing members 34and 35 which are substantially duplicates are mounted on the adjacentends of the bracket members 29 and 30, it being preferable that four ormore of these bearing members be located on each of the bracket membersand that they be placed to have the bearings thereof in radial alinementwith respect to the stud shaft 17. The operating bolts 36 and 37 areslidably mounted in the upper bearing 38 of each of the bearing members3a and 35, the construction of which is shown in detail in Figs. 6 to 8,inclusive, and these operating bolts have the outer ends thereof beveledat 39 to substantially the same angle as the bevel edge of the notches 21 and 25 of the operating wheel 23. The anchoring bolts 4L0 and 41 areslidably mounted in the bearing 42 provided preferably verticallybeneath the slide bearing 38 of the bearing members 31 and 35, and thesprings 43 are received around the anchor bolts l0 and 4-1 to engage atthe one end against the abutment pin 44 and at the opposite end againstapart of the bearing members so that these bolts will be normallyretracted onto the supporting brackets 29 and 30.

The pins or friction rolls 4-5 and 416 are mounted on the inner edge ofthe operating bolt 36 and the anchor bolt 40 to extend from one sidethereof and a rocking lever 17 is pivoted near its approximate center tothe bearing members to engage with these pins 45 and 46 so that as theanchor bolt 10 is moved to its retracted position by the tension of thespring 43, the engagement of the pin 46 wit-h the rocking lever 4-7 willcausethefree; end of the rocking lever to engage; with the pins 45 andwill. extend 'the operatingbolt-36torbear against, the innercircumference; of the; operating; wheel 23-. The/pins 18; and 4.9: aremountedion; thegoperatingubolt; 37 and the. anchor bolt 41; carried bythe supportingpbracket: 2.9; and the rocking lever 50 1 51 pivoted to;the; bearing mem ber. 35 v to; engage Witheacln of the pins. 48 and419-: and as j has beeni hereinbefore set forth through the; tension;of" the spring 13 tohold. the. operating-bolt 37 in engagement with.the; outer periphery: of; the operating wheel 23...

The, operating bolts. 36 and; 37. are.v disposed to lie. inthe same.horizontal plane with the operating wheel 23; and the anchor boltsAtOand 41 aredisposeddn a, plane with the normally held position of thepiercing needle 3.3 which is adapted to work, in the notches 28- Ofmilheleaf, holding fingers 26. This piercing; needle 33 is provided along itsextent, with; a. plurality of perforations 51 and, anchoring pins; 52are: carried on the endvofl. thev anchoring bolt 41 mounted on thesupporting bracket 49; to; be engaged through these perforations 51. andto pass intotheipin socket 53rofr the bolt member 40, this part, of, thestructure being better disclosed iniFig. 13.

As the operating bolts 36and: 37 are held by the spring; tensionagainst-the inner and outer circumferential-edgesiof the operating wheel23,, it wilLbe; seen that as thev notches 24:. and; 25 come intoalinement. with these bolts, the;bo.lts will be forced or moved into thenotches and then as the, bolts are, retainedina stationary position: andthe operating wheel=23 is caused to move in a constant,patlnthe bevelfaces 32 of the bolts 36 and 37, will. engage withand ride up: onthe-bevel. edgesvofz thenotches 251- and 25 and in this way thev anchorbolts 40 and1 41. will be alternately moved. to the position. indicatedate and thatindicated at bin- Fig. 13 where the anchoring pin 52 willbe;engagtds-through the perforation. 51 and the anchoring; bolts 4.0;and; 4:1 will be, retracted to a. position. to'permit'thepassage of theleaf-holding fingersi 261therebetiveen. The operation of, themachineisas follows; The string or cordE 5 1 wi h. one end thereoflooped is placed to extend as illustrated in Fig. 5 through each;Of-tl16; grooves of. the

several leaf-holding fingers 26' and; the

loopechend. is. inserted; ovenwthe; hook; end 55 of the 1 piercing.needle .33 which is held by. two of. the anchoringpins being passediIlH'OlZghrlLhG, perforations thereof the; operator then sits adjacent,the-projecting I portionsiof the base members L-of, the machine and: is,thus in' proXimit-ytto the point at whiolgr ,the.-pie.rcing; end. oftheneedle 33 .is penetrated through the leaves.- or stalks, then the.clutch lever is shifted to a. position,- to

staritlthe rotation of the carrying wheel 18, the operator. places aleaf or plant with the stem .orstock. in the vertical grooves 27 of the;lea-frholding fingers 26 just in advance of the piercing point of theneedle 33 and the; rotation'of theoperating wheel 23 from whichthefingers 26 depend causes these fingers to be carried so that theneedle will penetrate through. the stem or stock of the leaf or plantand will pass through the notch 28.- of the finger. As the operatingbolts and, 37 move into and are raised from thenotches 2 1 and 25 of theoperating wheel-23, the anchoring bolts 10 and 41 are shiftedin theirbearings in an opposite direction and the anchoring pin 52 will bealternately engaged through and disengaged from the Lmrforations 51 ofthe needle 33 and; the movement of the anchoring bolts idandlisso timedthat the bolts will be retracted from their engaging position just inadvance of each ofthe holding fingers 26 and will beagain permitted tocome to the engaged or holding position immediately behind thesefingers. as they move in the operative path. When this operation hasbeen continued throughout one complete revolution of the carrying wheel18, the clutclr shifting lever 21 will be operated to permit the pulley15 to run loose on the shaft 16 and thus cut ed the power to the bevelgear 19 and stop the rotation of the carrying wheel 18,.the string orcord 5 1 will be-unlooped from the hook 55 and can then be disengagedfrom the notches 28 of the holding fingers .26 and removed to bestretched in the. drying house, the drying shedo-r other suitable pointwhere the curing is toibe. accomplished, a new cord or string willbelooped over the hook 55 and inserted ashas beenhereinbefore set forthand the operation of the machine will then be completed, by shifting theclutch into operative relation and by the placing of the leaves orstalks by the operator within the grooves provided therefor in theholding fingers. lVhile it will: be understood that no specificdimensions are intended. to be given here whiclrshmlld be adheredto inthe manufacture of the-machine, it has been found that very efficientresults can be obtained where the operating wheel is provided withsomethirty-two of the holding. fingers and thezneedle isimade to extendthrough the space occupied by some six of these holding fingers, then.by spacing the parts so that the leaves or plants will be threaded ontothe string to be perhaps one and one-half inches apart and using astring of about four feet. in lengtln. a result is accomplished whichpermits the plants or leaves to be suspended within the drying room tohave free circulation of air on all.- sides and to thus prevent mold. ofthe tobacco or stem rot.

From. the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a machine whichrequires but a single operator and which is so cona determined distanceapart and which opera- 7 tion requires but a single handling by theoperator of the leaves or plants. Further it will be seen that theneedle will be held in a stationary position while the remaining partsof the machine are permitted to have traveling movement and that theneedle will be pierced through the center of the stemor stalk tothusgive the greatest holding strength.

While I have herein shown and described one specific. form of myinvention, it will be understood that slight changes might be made inthe form and arrangement of the several parts of the structure withoutdeparting from the spirit and scopeof my in vention, and hence I do notwish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims mayimport.

I claim I r 1; A machine for stringing tobacco comprising a piercingneedle, rotating means to carry the leaves or plants to a position to bepierced by said needle, and means to hold the piercing needle againstendwise and lateral displacement, and at the same time to bemechanically operated to overstep the carrying means as the leaves arethreaded onto the needle. 7

2. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising a penetrating needle, astring connected with said needle, means to cause the leaves or plantsto be pierced by said needle and strung onto said string, andmechanically operated means to engage with and hold the penetratingneedle against lateral and endwise displacement, and arranged to bemoved from the engagement to overstep the leaves as threaded onto theneedle.

3. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising penetrating needle adaptedto movement while the needle is maintained at a fixed point. 7

' 4. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising means by which each ofthe leaves or plants is to be impaled, a plurality of holding means toreceive the leaves or plants successively, rotatable means to carry saidholding means and to bring said means to an operative relation, andmechanically operated means to engage with said impaling means tosupport the same against lateral and endwise displacement and to move tothe inoperative relation in the proper intervals to overstep the holdingmeans as the leaves or plants are carried onto the impaling means.

5. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising means by which each of theleaves or plants is to be impaled, a plurality of holding means toreceive the leaves or plants successively, rotatable means to carry saidholding means and to bring said means to an operative relation, meanswithin the control of the operator to cause a turning motion to betransmitted to said rotatable means, and mechanically operated meansmounted to engage with said impaling means to hold the same againstlateral and endwise displacement and arranged to be brought to aninoperative relation through its own anechanical means in advance of theholding means to overstep the same.

6. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising means by which each of theleaves or plants is to be impaled, an operating wheel adapted to haverotary movement, a plurality of holding lingers mounted to depend fromsaid operating wheel to successively receive the leaves or plants and tobe moved to an operative relation upon turning movement of the operatingwheel, movable means to be engaged with said im paling means to hold thesame against lateral and endwise displacement, and means derivingoperative movement from the means rotating the operating wheel to causesaid last named means to have overstepping movement to clear the holdingfingers.

7 A machine for stringing tobacco comprising a penetrating needleadapted to have a string attached thereto to receive the leaves orplants and have the same held at spaced apart points throughout thelength thereof,

means to cause the leaves or plants to be it penetrated by the needleand to carry the same to the desired points throughout the length of thestrmg, and means to engage with said penetrating needle to hold the sameagainst lateral and endwise displacement and to be mechanically actuatedto overstep the means by which the leaves or plants are carried.

8. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising an operating wheel mountedto be T capable of rotatable movement, a penetrating needle mountedadjacent the path of rotation of said operating wheel, a plurality ofholding fingers connected to depend from said operating wheel andprovided with notches therein through which the needle may pass duringthe rotation of said wheel, means engaging with said penetrating needleto hold the same against endwise and lateral displacement, andmechanical operating means to throw said needle holding means out ofoperation at predetermined intervals to overstep the holding fingers.

9. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising an operating wheel mountedto be capable of rotatable movement, a penetrating needle mountedadjacent the path of rotation of said operating wheel, a plurality ofholding fingers connected to depend from said operating wheel andprovided with notches therein through which the needle may pass duringthe rotation of said wheel, all of said parts so arranged that theleaves or plants may be fed successively to said holding fingers andupon rotation of the operating wheel will be penetrated by and threadedover said needle, means to engage with and hold said penetrating needleagainst lateral and endwise displacement, mechanical means fordisengaging the holding means and causing the same to overstep theholding fingers as the wheel is rotated, and means within the control ofthe operator to cause a rotary motion to be transmitted to saidoperating wheel to impel said wheel through its normal operative path.

10. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising an operating wheelmounted to be capable of rotatable movement, a penetrating needlemounted adjacent the path of rotation of said operating wheel, aplurality of holding fingers connected to depend from said operatingwheel and provided with notches therein through which the needle maypass during the rotation of said wheel, all of said parts so arrangedthat the leaves or plants may be fed successively to said holdingfingers and upon rotation of the op erating wheel will be penetrated byand threaded over said needle, a string connected with said needle to bereceived within the notches of the holding fingers and adapted to havethe leaves or plants threaded thereonto and spaced apart atpredetermined and equi-distant points, said penetrating needle providedwith openings through the body portion thereof, means to be engaged insaid openings to hold the needle against lateral and endwisedisplacement, and means to cause said holding means to be moved from theengaged relation to overstep the holding fingers.

11. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising a carrying arm mounted ona suitable support, rotatable means supported by said carrying arm, apenetrating needle, a plurality of holding fingers connected with saidrotatable means to receive the leaves or plants to be operated upon,means to hold the penetrating needle at a point within the path oftravel of said holding fingers, cam means carried by said rotatablemeans to cause the needle holding means to be brought alternately intoand out of operative relation to overstep the holding fingers, anddriving means within the control of the operator to cause movement to betrans mittted to said rotatable means.

12. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising a carrying arm mounted ona suitable support, rotatable means journaled upon said carrying arm, apenetrating needle, a plurality of holding fingers connected with saidrotatable means to receive the leaves or plants to be operated upon andprovided with notches near their lower extremities, means to hold thepenetrating needle at a point within said notches to' penetrate thestems or stalks of said leaves or plants, 'a string connected with saidneedle to have the leaves or plants threaded thereonto, and means to beactuated by the movement of said rotatable means to cause theneedleholding means to overstep the holding fingers and the leaves orplants as threaded onto the needle.

13. A machine for stringing tobacco comprising a carrying arm mounted ona suitable support, a carrying wheel rotatably mounted on said carryingarm, a penetrating needle, an operating wheel connected with saidcarrying wheel, a plurality of holding fingers connected to depend fromsaid operating Wheel to receive the leaves or plants to be operated uponand provided with notches adjacent their lower extremities, a pluralityof holding means to when in an operative position engage with and holdthe needle within the notches of the holding finger in a position topenetrate through the leaves or plants carried therein, and meansactuated frlom said operating wheel to cause said holding means to bebrought into and out of an operative relation in a step-by-step movementto permit the holding means to overstep the holding fingers and theleaves or plants as threaded onto the needle and to maintain the needlealways in the stationary fixed relation.

In testimony whereof I alfiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED J. SALZER.

Witnesses:

THOMAS SPEAKMAN, JoI-IN ZIEGLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. G.

